Which Wood Burns Best?

The five compared

Everything we sell comes off tree surgery work across Dorset, so the species mix is whatever the county grows — which happens to be an excellent list for firewood. These are the five you will find in a load of our seasoned mixed, and four of them we also sell on their own.

A word on the numbers below: these are relative judgements from burning the stuff, not laboratory figures. Once wood is properly dry, the differences between hardwood species are much smaller than the internet suggests — and much smaller than the difference between dry wood and wet wood of any species.

Ash

If you could only have one, this is it, and it is not close. Ash is dense enough to give real heat and a long burn, splits beautifully, lights from cold more readily than any other hardwood we sell, and has so little resin that it barely spits at all.

It also has the useful property of burning acceptably at higher moisture than most species, which is why the old country saying about burning it green persists. Do not take that as permission — it is far better seasoned — but it explains the reputation.

We sell it on its own as seasoned ash precisely because it is worth having unblended: every load behaves the same, which matters if you are cooking on it or running a pizza oven.

Oak

The most heat per log and the longest burn of anything on the list. Oak is the wood for banking a stove down before bed — a large split oak log on a good ember bed will still be glowing in the morning.

The trade-off is that it is hard work to get going. Oak wants a proper bed of embers underneath it before it will do anything useful, so it is a poor choice for lighting a cold stove. It also takes the longest to season of anything here, often two years rather than one.

In practice the right way to use oak is as part of a mix: something lighter to establish the fire, then oak to hold it.

Beech

Beech is close to ash in most respects and slightly better looking in the grate — it burns with a bright, even flame and leaves very little ash behind. Good heat, good burn time, no spitting worth mentioning.

Its one weakness is that it holds water stubbornly and rots quickly if stored badly. Beech that has sat on wet ground under a tarp goes off faster than any other species here, so it is the one that most rewards storing it properly.

Birch

Birch is the show wood. It lights almost instantly, burns with a bright lively flame, and the bark is oily enough to catch from a match — which makes birch bark one of the best natural firelighters there is.

What it will not do is last. Birch is a light timber and burns through quickly, so a fire built only of birch needs feeding constantly. Use it to get things going and to lift a fire that has gone sulky, and put something denser on once it is established.

The bark crackles a little as the oils burn off. It is nothing like softwood spitting and is perfectly safe in an open fire, but you will hear it.

Sycamore

Nobody’s favourite and nothing wrong with it. Sycamore is a middling wood in every direction: reasonable heat, reasonable burn time, lights well enough, does not spit. It seasons quickly, which is a genuine advantage.

It is abundant across Dorset, so it turns up reliably in our seasoned mixed. If you have ever burned a mixed load and not noticed anything in particular about some of the logs, they were probably sycamore, and that is a compliment of sorts.

So which should you buy?